2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



Park, lying between them and the Park range. Portions of this park 

 drain into the Grand, but the greater part into the Bear, the divide 

 between the two being very low. 



The old Salt Lake wagon-road enters here from Gore's Pass. The 

 top of the plateau is a rolling country, with numerou-s isolated mount- 

 ain-masses. It abounds with numerous small lakes, and is well tim- 

 bered, chiefly with fine spruce. To the west, the plateau gradually falls, 

 the lava top dies out, the sedimentary rocks appear on the surface, and 

 the timber-growth changes to aspen and pine. 



The valley of the Grand does not present the attractive agricultural 

 features of the White and Bear Rivers. It has formed numerous cafions, 

 which show in a very interesting manner the highly-colored rocks, 

 bent and twisted by many folds. Dwarf cedars, juniper, and the finer 

 pines cover the slopes for some distance up, and the ever-occurring sage- 

 brush the flat bottom-slopes. South of the Grand, and between that 

 and the Eagle, the country rises in broken, irregular mountain-ridges to 

 the rough snowy range, of which Mount Powell is the culminating 

 point. 



Going west of the plateau, the rain-fall becomes continually less until 

 the party reached 108°, when it entered upon the dry, barren country 

 of Western Colorado. Snow fell in considerable quantities early in Octo- 

 ber, and the clouds that hung around the topographical points caused a 

 great deal of delay. The weather finally grew so bad that it was decided 

 to work toward civilization. An attempt to reach the White River 

 Indian agency by a trail across the mesa was frustrated by the snow. 

 The party reached the top in a blinding snow-storm, with snow nearly 

 two feet deep. One of the party, who had crossed with the mail two weeks 

 before, reported the snow as belly-deep to a horse for fifteen miles, and 

 in places for a considerable distance up to the top of the saddle. After 

 one night's camp in the snow, and the storm still continuing, the party 

 decided to turn back, and take the longer but easier route around the 

 mesa. This route offered no difficulties, and they finally reached Raw- 

 lins Springs, the nearest point on the Union Pacific Railroad, Novem- 

 ber 27. 



A barometric station was established at the agency, and one of the 

 meteorological observers was there all the time. This station will serve 

 as the base for all altitudes in the district. In October, this party 

 divided, a portion remaining encampedatthe mouth of the Eagle, where 

 careful barometric readings were taken that will fix this important point. 



Approximate determinations of the amount of water in the Eagle, 

 Grand, and Bear Rivers were made, which will give an idea of the 

 amount available for irrigation. 



The amount surveyed is about forty-three hundred square miles, com- 

 prising a narrow strip of country, taking in the south side of North Park, 

 stretching from Long's Peak to the Park range. The main portion is 

 bordered by the Park range on the east, south by the Eagle and Grand 



